San Jose: Police investigating possible gang-related slaying of teen near San Jose High School

SAN JOSE -- Fifteen minutes after the bell sounded to end sixth-period classes at San Jose High School, a male believed to be in his teens was stabbed to death on a nearby street, signaling the city's fifth homicide this year -- the second killing of a teenage boy in less than two weeks.

Like the previous killing, police are investigating the latest slaying as possibly gang-related.

Officers were called to the 300 block of North 21st Street around 3:15 p.m., a few blocks from the high school, and found the victim suffering from at least one stab wound. While medical personnel started CPR in an effort to save him, the victim was pronounced dead at the scene around 3:30 p.m.

According to San Jose police spokesman Officer Albert Morales, the victim appeared to be of high school age, but his identity and student status were not confirmed Wednesday evening.

Morales said numerous students were milling about the area at the time of the stabbing, and it might have been preceded by some kind of altercation just off campus. Homicide investigators placed evidence markers in various spots along a 500-foot stretch of E. Julian Street from the school to where the victim collapsed on a residential street.

"We do have witnesses," Morales said. "A lot of students were taken to the station to give statements."

He noted that the area has gang activity, but said it was too early in the investigation to conclude that was the motive behind the attack.

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Out of the year's homicides, only the fourth has been deemed gang related.

In that case, 17-year-old Jorge Brambila was shot to death near McLaughlin Avenue and Story Road on Feb. 3. A second boy, 14, was also shot but survived his wounds. Last year, 18 of the city's 46 homicides stemmed from gang strife, according to police.

Family members who gathered at the scene Wednesday night declined to comment or state the victim's name and requested to be left alone.

A bereaved young man who arrived about an hour and a half after the stabbing cried out and collapsed to the ground in grief, slapping the asphalt with his palms as tears streamed down his face.

"That's my little baby brother," he wailed, before being escorted away through police lines. "He has a father, he has a mother. I helped raise him."

"I can't tell you how I'm feeling," he told an officer. "I hope I wake up."

Anyone with information about the case can contact homicide detectives at 408-277-5283, or leave an anonymous tip with Silicon Valley Crimestoppers at 408-947-STOP (7867) or http://tipsubmit.com.